Piccolo Jim
Happened on this whilst perusing the South West news archives . Piccolo Jim in this pic had walked (presumably) from Notts to Plymouth in 1923 to see County play Plymouth in a cup tie . He entertained the crowd with numerous tunes . He had walked to other matches in various parts of the country supporting Forest and Notts and as his placard says he supposedly walked 2000 miles looking for work .
Be good to know his real name . There was also a "Piccolo Jim" in Hampshire in the mid 30s , whe
Just revisited this story , (well it's the start of the football season !).
Found some more tales that confirm Piccolo Jim's real name was Harry Newland .
In 1939 he was fined for begging at the Empire theatre queue . Only in that story , his nickname was "Piccolo Pete" . His address was given as Burgess Rd . After the fine he vowed to give up playing his piccolo . During his trial he claimed to be the "champion recruiting sergeant of Great Britain" in WW1.
I
